Study showing exercise prevents cancers moves Physical Therapy to the front lines

Physical therapy started as a way to help injured people regain mobility. In the early 1900s, practitioners focused on helping World War I veterans and polio patients recover. It functioned more as a fix than a true therapy. Not so, today.

Today, physical therapy plays a central role in modern medicine. It serves as both a preventive tool and a cornerstone of general wellness, improving quality of life. From professional athletes to deskbound executives, it has shifted from reactive care to proactive engagement that drives better health outcomes.

Movement is more important than ever

A compelling new study reported in the Washington Post reinforces what many of us already believe. Exercise works as a powerful, drug-free tool in the fight against cancer. It improves treatment outcomes and, even more importantly, lowers the risk of developing cancer in the first place.

Mikkael Sekeres, MD, wrote in his article, “I’m an oncologist. Here’s why I recommend exercise to lower cancer risk,” that this is good news for everyone. It should prompt all of us to take a closer look at how much we move each day and find ways to do more.

And the bar is not as high as you might think. Thirty minutes a day can make a meaningful difference.

Dr. Sekeres shared his own experience: “I started exercising a few times a week in college in an effort to lower my own risk. I’ve kept it up for decades and now engage in 30 minutes of aerobic exercise daily. What I didn’t realize when I started was that exercising would also substantially lower my risk for developing certain cancers.”

He also cited a large study published in the Journal of Clinical Oncology that followed more than 750,000 adults across the United States, Europe, and Australia for an average of 10 years. Participants who exercised 7½ to 15 metabolic equivalent task hours per week, roughly 2½ to five hours of moderate activity like brisk walking, reduced their risk of developing several cancers:

• Breast cancer (6 to 10 percent lower risk)
• Colon cancer (8 to 14 percent lower risk in men)
• Endometrial cancer (10 to 18 percent lower risk)
• Kidney cancer (11 to 17 percent lower risk)
• Liver cancer (18 to 27 percent lower risk)
• Lymphoma (11 to 18 percent lower risk in women)
• Multiple myeloma (14 to 19 percent lower risk)

Read the full story. Then get moving.

I’m in the moving business

My colleagues and I see it every day. Movement matters more than most people realize.

Patients come to us with pain from both gradual injuries, such as repetitive motion, and traumatic events like auto accidents. Pain limits movement. That makes exercise and recreation difficult, and sometimes it feels impossible.

But many patients simply want to move better. They want better sleep, a smoother golf swing, or the ability to play with their grandchildren without discomfort.

This new research should motivate all of us to prioritize daily movement. That starts with maintaining pain-free mobility.

Physical therapy is exercise. It enables the activities we value, from gardening to running marathons.

People who avoid exercise are not lazy. They hurt. We can help.

Physical therapy continues to move into the mainstream of routine health care and healthspan. And now, it appears to offer something even more powerful: a measurable advantage in protecting against serious disease.